Railway draft rigging



June 7, 1932. J. H. LINK RAILWAY DRAFT mesme Filed July 27, 1928Patented June 7, 1932 pairs srrsfs JOHN H. LINK, OF MERION,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO W. H. MINER, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATIONOF DELAWARE INC., F

RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING This invention relates to `improvements in railwaydraft riggings.

One object of the invention is to provide a unitary, combined front stopand striking block casting of rugged design, adapted to support andguide the'coupler shank in its movements, the striking block section ofthe casting being reinforced and braced to strengthen the same.

Other and further objects of the invention will more clearly appear fromthe description and claim hereinafter following.

In the drawing, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is alongitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a portion of the underframestructure of a car, illustrating my improvements in connection`therewith. Figure l2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, secw tional view,corresponding substantially toY 20 the line 2-2 of Figure 1. And Figure3 is a front end elevational View of the structure illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, the coupler and associated parts being omitted in thisview. 1 A

In said drawing, -10 indicate the usual` spaced center or draft sills ofa railway car underframe. As shown, a combined rear stop and bolsterfiller block casting 11 is disposed betweenthe sills, being secured tothe same in any suitable manner, the same being shown as fixed byrivets. The combined rear stopand bolster lfiller block is of well knownform and is provided with a pocket 12 at the forward end thereof,adapted to accommodate the inner end of the yoke of the railway draftrigging.

The combined stop and filler block is reinforced by the usual webs andribs, and prel sents a flat front end abutment face which 40 acts as therear stop member proper. This casting is also provided with the usualcenter pin receiving sleeve 13. The body bolster of the car underframestructure is designated by 1li, and, as shown, has the lower platesection thereof underlying the combined rear stop and bolster fillerblock casting 11.

The center sills are provided with the usual aligned coupler keyreceiving slots 15 adjacent the front end thereof. The coupler shank ofthe railway draft rigging is designated by 16 and, as shown, isconnected to a yoke member 17 by means of the usual transverselyextending coupler key 18 which works in aligned slots in the side armsof the yoke member and has the outer endsthereof slidingly accommodatedin the key receiving slots 15 of the draft sills. The shock absorbingmechanism proper of the railway draft rigging isdisposed'within the yokeand may be of any well known form.v As herein disclosed, thesamecomprises a friction shell 19 having ak pair offriction y shoes 20cooperating therewith, the shoes being in wedging' engagement with ablock 21 which be'ars directly on the inner side of a 65 front mainfollower 22 engaging the inner end of the Vcouplery shank.V The yoke andthe parts therewithin are supported in operative position by adetachable saddleplate 23 secured to the draft sills.

. In carrying out my invention, I provide a combined front'stop andstriking casting B which is in the form of a hollow box-like memberhaving spaced, longitudinally eX- tending, vertically disposed sidewalls 24-24 75 and spaced, longitudinally extending top and bottom walls25 and 26. As clearly shown in Figure 1 the side walls 211 are securedto the vertical webs of the draft sills by rivets. Each side wall isalso provided with a longitudinally disposed, horizontal slot 27,adapted to register with the slot 15 of the corresponding draft sill 10.rlhe slots 27 of the opposed side walls of the casting are in alignmentand are adapted to accommodate the coupler key 18 for sliding movement.The forward end of the top wall 25 of the casting is downwardly offset,as indicated at 28, thereby providing a horizontal wall section. Thehorizontal wall section 28 is connected to 90 the top wall by a verticaltransverse web 29 and is also provided with a transverse web 30 at theouter end thereof,which forms the striking plate proper of the casting.The offset section 28, together with the webs 29 95 and 30, define thestriking block proper of che combined casting. The striking block memberis reinforced by spaced, longitudinally extending side webs 31-31 whichare formed integral with the transverse webs 29 100 and 30 and thehorizontal wall 28 of the striking block section. The top wall is alsoprovided with a transversely disposed depending flange 32 at the innerend, which functions as one of the front stop members of the casting.The casting isrreinforced by a pair of longitudinally extending, spacedwebs 33-33, extending from the transverse web 29 at the forward end ofthe casting to thek depending flange 32 at the rear end of the castingand formed integral with the top wall 25. n, y

The bottom wall 26 of the casting has the rear end sectionthereofrdisposed substantially horizontally, as shown in Figure 1, andhas the forward section 34 thereof inclined downwardly. The side walls24-24 extend below the horizontal wall 26 andare provided with laterallyprojecting horizontal flanges 35-35 at the bottom side of the casting,which extend beneath the bottom flanges of the two draft sills. As shownin Figures 2 and 3, the flanges 35 are secured to the bottom flanges ofthe draft sills l0. As shown, the same are secured by rivets, but itwill be evident that any other suitable securing means may be employed.

At the rear end, the bottom wall 26 of the casting is provided with atransversely dis-A posed depending flange 36 which is in verticalalignment with the vflange 32 and forms the lower stop member of thecasting. The flange 36 is formed integral with the side and bottom wallsof the casting and, as shown in Figure l, protrudes slightly below theside walls.

At the forward end, the casting is provided with an integral carry ironsection, comprising a horizontally disposed transverse web 37 providedwith spaced front and rear transversely disposed depending flanges 38-38for reinforcing the same. As most clearly illustrated in Figure l, thecarry iron section is spaced from the front end portion of the bottomwall 26, leaving an opening 39 therebetween adapted to accommodate therear end flange portion of` a wear plate l() interposed between thecarry iron section and the bottom of the coupler shank. As shown, thewear plate is of substantially U-shaped cross section and fits the carryiron section, having the depending flanges thereof disposed at the frontand rear sides of the carry irons. f

The side walls of the casting B are provided with relatively heavy,vertically disposed, laterally outwardly extending flanges L.Ll-4:1which overhang the front endsy of the draft sills 10 and form means forbracing the casting against buffing shocks.

In the operation of my improved railway draft rigging, upon inwardmovement of the coupler, the shock absorbing mechanism will becompressed, the main follower being forced inwardly by the couplershank. Inward movement of the coupler is limited in the usual manner byengagement with the striking block of the casting, the horn of thecoupler engaging the striking plate section 30. As will be evident, thestriking plate section 30of my improved casting forms an eflicientstriking or bufng block, inasmuch as the same is reinforced by havingthe top wall of the casting-downwardly offset and by bracing the platesection 30 by the longitudinally extending webs 3l. In its movements,the coupler shank will be guided on the wear plate of the carry ironsection of the casting and on the horizontal portion of the bottom wallDuring a draft action, the pulling, force will be transmitted throughthe coupler shank to the yoke by means of the connecting coupler key,and the shock absorbing mechanism will be compressed between the innerend of the yoke and the front main follower 22. During this time, themain follower 22 will be held stationary by engagementI with the frontstop members'32 and 36 of the casting B.

n While I have herein shown and described what I consider 'the preferredmanner of carrying out my invention, thesame` is merely illustrative andI contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the. scopeof the claim appended hereto.

VIn a draft-rigging for railway cars, the combination with spaced draftsills having horizontally disposed, laterally outstanding bottomflanges; of an integral one-piece combined front stop and-strikingcasting including spaced top and bottom, and spaced side walls. said topand bottom walls connecting the side walls,fsaid top and bottom wallshaving downturned transverse flanges at the n rear ends forming frontstop means cooperating with the usual-front follower of the draftrigging'` said sidewalls being riveted to the sills, said side wallshaving integral, laterally outwardly projecting bottom flanges engagingbeneath said bottom flanges of the draft sills and riveted thereto, saidtop wall having at the forward end portion thereof a horizontallydisposed, downwardly offset section` said offset section being connectedat the inner end to the top wall proper by a transverselyextendingvertical web, said offset section being provided at the outer end withan'upstanding transverse vertical flange forming the striking plateproper of the casting, said casting being reinforced by integral,longitudinally extending ribs spaced from the side walls and formedintegral with said top wall, rear flange of the top wall, and saidtransversely extending web at the forward end portion. of the top wall,and said striking plate proper being reinforced by longitudinal ribs inalignment with said first named ribs iis and formed integral with saiddownward ofset section of the top Wall, transverse vertical Web, andtransverse vertical flange of said oset section.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing?l day of July, 1928.

i have hereunto subscribed my name this JOHN H. LINK.

